Method of grafting



Nov. 30 1926.

L. E. ALEXANDER METHOD oF GRAFTING Filed Oct. 16. 1924 Luc fr u/erEff/erdader Mfr/(Muy Patented Nov. 3Q, i926.

Urrea stares 'l` Q FFICE.

Application filed Gctober 16, '3.924.

My invention relates to the art of ,grafting trees and shrubs, andespecially to the art of grafting a bud or scion on the stock of thosetrees .or shrubs in which the successful knitting of the scion to thestock is accomplished with great difficulty. An example of a tree ofthis type is a walnut tree to which the grafting of a bud has beenconsidered exceedingly difiicult, practically impossible, except underthe most favorable conditions.

The object of my invention thus is to provide a .method of grafting` bywhich the flow of the sap in the stock will be `directed or constrainedso as to vow thru the scion in such sufficient amount as to ensure theproper nourishment and the growth of the scion.

l have discovered that the difficulty in successful grafting lies in theinefficiency of the old method of in'ipelling` the flow of the sapthrough the scion in sufficient quantity to nourish the latter properly.ln -other words, under the old method, the sap tended to flow by, oraround, instead of through the scion.

l have further discovered that a suflicient low of the sap maybefensured by impeding the flow of the sap aroundv the scion thereby tocompel a substantial portion of the sap to flow thru the scion. Suchresult is produced by making a circumferential gap in the bark betweenthe upper and lower portion of the stock. Such removal of the bark maybe made in the form of a girdle, that is extended completely around; orby making' only a partial circumferential removal of the bark andcutting' the latter at the rgap so as to extend in the form of a tongueor bridge across the gap. The graft is then completed by slitting thebark of the stock adjacent said incision or gap, lifting' the barkportions adjacent said slit, and inserting7 the shieldlike scion undersaid lifted portions, but care must be taken to bring the end of thescion into contact with a section of the bark of the stock on the otherside of said gap.

l have hereinafter described several modes of attaining the object of myinvention in practice and have illustrated the same in the accompanyingdrawings, in Which:

Fig. l shows a portion of a stock to which a scion has been attached byfollowing one mode of carrying my invention into practice;

Fig. 2 shows the shield used in the practice of my invention asillustrated by Fig. l,

Seri-a1 No. "43,942,

the under face or side of the shield being-V turned towards the reader;

liig'. 3 illustrates another mode of carrying my invention intopractice; as here shown instead of making' a complete girdle orf thestock at the place where the seien is to be attached. as done whenfollowing the method illustrated by Fig. lea tongue is left on the barkof the stock on one side of the girdle or to span the gap; vFig. fishowsa longitudinal section throng-h the` stock and the in'erted bud, takensubstantially on the line-4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates another modircation ofv my invention in which arelatively small portion of the harkis left at each side of said shieldand across said girdle;- and Fig. 6 shows a fragmentary transversesection taken through the stock and shield substantially along the line6&6 of Fig'. 5.

rl`he method of budding generally followed is known as shield budding,and it is to this type of budding,` that my invention relates.

firs well known the so-called shield consists of an eye or bud a;bearing a portion of bark o which carries a portion of the sapwood oralburnurn c. l have noted that the proportion ofbuds which aresuccessfully grafted by shield 'budding as heretofore practiced evenunder the most favorable conditions is relatively small, as comparedwith the buds that do not attach themselves to the stock, even though.care is 'taken in the grafting operation. The reason of the failure isthat the scion is i-nsufliciently nourished.

Describing first the mode of practicing my invention as illustrated byFig. lz-A circumferential section of the bark of the stock l is removedas at g to produce a girdle or gap in the bark at the point where theScion is to be grafted. A longitudinal incision, or slit k is then madein the bark of the stock on both sides of said gap, the slitted portionse and e of the bark are lifted, the shield is placed under these barkportions, and the graft is then secured in place by a wrapping of rafiiaor grafting` cord. The shield should be so arranged that the bud o isclose to one side of the girdle or gap. The sap which flows through thestock will thus be compelled to pass through the shield from one side tothe other of the gap or girdle g. l have discovered that this method ofSil grafting causes any flow of sap in the stock to pass through theshield; and hence this method may be practiced at any time of the yearwhen sap is running.

Another mode of practicing my invention is illustrated by Fig. 8. Inthis case that portion of the bark of the stock, where the gap is to bemade is cut in the form of a tongue e2, which extends across the gap gand is brought into contact with the upper edge of the shield b carryingthe bud a. The incision 7L is the same as the incision 71, shown in Fig.l. Then the slitted portions of the bark adjacent the slit are foldedover the shield. If the sap flow in the tree is limited, or the natureof the tree causes it to knit slowly, and it is feared that, for thatreason, the wound will heal with diiiiculty, the tongue e2 should bemade of such width that the lateral portions of its end can be placed inabutment with the bark portions e3, e3 at each side of the shield. Theportions of the tongue c2 abutting with the bark portions c3, e3 shouldnot be made of such width, however, as to tend to divert the sapentirely around the bud, but merely to permit a small portion of the sapto pass through said abutment, so as not to cut. off the direct flow ofthe sap through the stock entirely. The bud a in the method illustratedby Fig. 3 should also be located close to the gap g so as to assure thatthe bud will be nourished by an ample flow of sap.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I illustrate a still further modification of myinvention in which the incision h2 is made so that the portion c4 of thebark on the stock can be lifted up at one side and a continuation LS ofsaid incision 71,2 is made below the girdle g2 out of alinementtherewith so that the lifted bark portions c5 at both sides of saidincision 71.3 will cover said shield at both sides of the bud. Saidgirdle g2 is not made completely about the stock (Z2 in this case but asmall portion of the bark e is left at each side of the shield (see Fig.6) so that the bark portion Z22 of the shield is kept from drying out.Said stock portions e6 also serve the same purpose as the overlappedportions of the portion e2 in Fig. 3, that is, to prevent the entire sapflow thru the 4stock from being cut off, said portions permitting a verylimited' sap flow to pass at each side of the shield carrying the bud.But said stock portions c must not be of such width as to tend to divertall of the sap away from the shield for the bud. |The bud a2 of theScion should be located close to the gap g2.

Although my invention is shown only as a modification of shieldgrafting, it is obvious that it is equally adaptable for use with budsinserted into the stock by flute or ring grafting.

I claim:

l. The method of grafting a scion on a growing stock consisting inremoving a circumferential section of the bark of the stock so as toprovide a gap in the bark adjacent the point where the scion is to begrafted, making a longitudinal slit in said bark adj acent said gap,lifting the bark portions adjacent. the said slit, inserting ashield-like seion under said lifted portions, bringing the seien intoContact with a `section of the bark of the stock on the other side ofsaid gap and securing the graft in place.

2. The method of grafting a scion on a growing stock, consisting inremoving a circumferential section of the bark of the stock so as toprovide a gap in the bark adjacent the point where the vscion is to begrafted but leaving on one side of the gap a tongue of the bark to spansaid gap, making a longitudinal slit in said bark adjacent and on theother side of said gap in alinement with said tongue, lifting the barkportions adjacent the said slit, inserting a shield-like scion undersaid lifted portions, bringing the scion into Contact with the saidtongue of the bark of the stock and securing the grafted scion in place.

LUTHER E. ALEXANDER.

